Critically assess the claim that the response of the Early Church to Gnosticism provided the impetus for its emerging ecclesial identity.
Critically assess the claim that the response of the Early Church to Gnosticism provided the impetus for its emerging ecclesial identity. Name: Ciara Rushe Student Number: 18102077 Year: BED 4 Secondary John Burke (2009, p.93) states that “Gnosticism is the first heresy of any importance that arose in the Christian Church”. Christianity was emerging from Judaism and the Church’s encounter with Gnosticism challenged the Church to explain its own teachings and beliefs from that of Judaism. Gnosticism comes from the word “gnosis” meaning to know, due its essential teaching which was that one becomes free of the body’s confinement and returns to the supreme God only through secret knowledge. This knowledge is reveled only to a select few by messages from the supreme God. They believed that they were saved and were an elect group. There is no definitive term to describe Gnosticism, Karen L. King (2005, p.2) states that the reason for this is that “a rhetorical term has been confused with a historical entity. There was and is no such thing as Gnosticism, if we mean by that some kind of ancient religious entity with a single origin and a distinct set of characteristics.” James Lindsay (1903) states that “We need not, like Irenaeus, regard it as something only evil, for it not only proved a half-way house for some on the road to Christianity, but compelled
Christian Beliefs About The Trinity and Creation
The Scrripture makes it clear that there is only one God. "I am the Lord and there is no other; there is no God besides me"(Isa 45:5). There are many other references that could be given about the oneness of God like the verses found in Isaiah 46:9; 1 Corinthians 8:5-6; and Galatians 4:8-9. Having started by highlighting that there is only one God, we now see that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all have divine attributes. All three Persons are called God, all three Persons are the Creator, and all three Persons are eternal. One could go on and on listing divine characteristics of the Trinity. All three have the Attributes of God, yet there is only one God. The only way we can reconcile these facts is to understand the concept of the Trinity---one God, three Persons. It is also clear from the analysis that the doctrine os the Trinity is not something gathered from just one verse out of context, the concept is derived by examining scripture as a whole. This makes it a very certain and scriptural doctrine. Beliefs About The Trinity-and-creation The Christian understanding of God is monotheistic, in contrast to all forms of polytheism. However, there are different ways in which the oneness of God can be explained. The first type of monotheism is that of Judaic and Islamic monad monotheism. This understanding views God as a single entity. A second form of monotheism
The serpent serves several functions in The Book of Genesis. It functions as a symbol of temptation, free choice, knowledge, and good vs. evil, as well as deception.
The Role of the Serpent The serpent serves several functions in The Book of Genesis. It functions as a symbol of temptation, free choice, knowledge, and good vs. evil, as well as deception. These are very powerful metaphors portrayed by the writers. By tempting Eve to eat from the tree, and disobey God, the serpent was in fact tempting her to make choices: Do you disobey God and open your eyes to knowledge, or free choice, or do you obey him, and believe what he says to be the ultimate truth? The message from God to Adam was very clear: "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." (Genesis 2:16-17) The message was presumably delivered to Eve from Adam, for God created Eve after delivering the message to Adam. When the serpent approached Eve and told her to eat from the forbidden tree, she explained to the serpent what God said. The serpent paraphrases Gods' words and asked her: "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.' " But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat
Outline Luther's theological principle of sola scriptura (by the Bible alone), and assess its theological importance
OUTLINE LUTHER'S THEOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE OF SOLA SCRIPTURA (BY THE BIBLE ALONE), AND ASSESS ITS THEOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE In the sixteenth century there was a great deal of variety in theology, more than ever before, with the emergence of humanism and fundamentally due to the Reformation. The cause of the Reformation was the prevailing situation in the Roman Catholic Church, which had been developing during the previous centuries and consisted of discontent with the accumulating wealth and abuses of the hierarchy. The peasants, the majority, were inarticulately anti-clerical and anti-papal, whilst the minority of educated were the Christian Humanists who initiated their own reforms. Many scholars believe Luther not to be the cause of the Reformation, agreeing that this would have occurred sooner or later without him, although many regard him as the 'catalyst' of the Reformation. However, Young contradicts this by identifying Luther as "the father of the European Reformation"1. Regardless, Luther's importance is indubitable when studying scholarly writings regarding him and this is due to the great significance of his theology, such as the principle of sola scriptura. Prior to this the Catholic hierarchy believed itself to have exclusive understanding and knowledge of the Bible thus giving it an infallible status as an essential part of one's search for salvation.
The New Testament.
Introduction: The New Testament includes the four Gospels; the Acts of the Apostles, a history of early Christianity; Epistles, or letters, of Paul and other writers; and an apocalypse, or book of revelation. Some books identified as letters, particularly the Book of Hebrews, are theological treatises. The New Testament is the second of the two chief divisions of the Christian bible consisting of the books dealing with Christ's life and death and the work done by his apostles after his death. Early Christian writers believed that the Gospel according to Matthew is the earliest of the synoptic Gospels (hence its position at the beginning of the New Testament) and attributed it to Saint Matthew, one of the 12 apostles. They believed that he wrote the Gospel in Palestine, just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Although this opinion is still held by some, most scholars consider the Gospel According to Mark the earliest Gospel. They believe, on the basis of both external and internal evidence, that the author of Matthew used Mark as one of his two major sources. This exegesis, whilst interpreting the holy Christian scripture will discuss Jesus' teaching on adultery (Matthew 5. 27-30). Before even beginning to discuss this exegesis, it is essential to ask some significant questions that will serve to illuminate our presuppositions. First, is there such a
The afterlife of a Catholic can go three ways: heaven, purgatory which eventually can lead to heaven, or hell. This paper presents an in-depth look at the Catholic afterlife as well as how the afterlife affects a person during life.
Afterlife and Catholicism Lindsay Johnson /6/06 Final Separation Dr. Lindenmuth I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I don't know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, How many good things have you done in your life?, rather he will ask, How much love did you put into what you did? -Mother Teresa Catholicism is one of the world's largest religions. It is the largest division of Christianity and has more than a billion followers across the world (Pilz). It is for this reason that understanding such a widely known religion is important in any service profession where religious views come into play, especially for those that have to deal with death and the practices before and following a death. How a Catholic acts in life is an indictor of the afterlife they will experience. The afterlife of a Catholic can go three ways: heaven, purgatory which eventually can lead to heaven, or hell. This paper presents an in-depth look at the Catholic afterlife as well as how the afterlife affects a person during life. Catholicism is very distinctive in certain beliefs that all have a very powerful influence over the religion as a whole. For one, Catholics believe the Pope to be nearly infallible (Thurston). Because of this, what the Pope believes is good for the religion is usually done. Another example of uniqueness is the seven
The deathof Jesus.
AOI Part 1 Suzanne Crawford THE DEATH OF JESUS At Easter Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus grew up all his life knowing that he would be put to death and this must have made it hard for him to practice and teach the faith of his father. However, Christians like Jesus have the faith and understanding that even though we suffer we will be granted eternal life if we have lived as Jesus taught us. According to Joe Jenkins for Christians; "There is hope of eternal life confirmed by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ". Christians are taught that Jesus' death was part of Gods plan for the salvation of the world. We believe that all suffering including our own has meaning, it is a share in the death of Christ whereby we take up our cross. "... deny self take up his cross and follow me." Today with all the medical knowledge we have we can be told that we may be dying from certain diseases such as cancer. It is these people who should really know how Jesus felt knowing they are going to die; "not my will but thine be done". This is extremely frightening and Christians do get scared and are also concerned of the fact they feel they have done something wrong. When this occurs we can bring in another aspect of faith of Jesus and Christians which is reconciliation and their sins can be forgiven. I think Christians
Live in the Then!
Brian Heilman 3.12.2003 Live in the Then! Although the film "Wayne's World" does not deserve a great deal of intellectual merit, it is one of the greatest comedies I have ever seen. I never thought that theologians were such big fans of the film as well. Towards the beginning of the film, Mike Myers' character Wayne Campbell is lusting after a particularly beautiful (yet incredibly expensive) Fender Stratocaster guitar. Garth Algar (played by Dana Carvey) says, "Live in the now, man!" Garth is suggesting that Wayne wake up to the reality in which he lives; he should focus on now and not then. Many modern theologians must be big "Wayne's World" fans because they definitely 'live in the now.' They tend to incorporate their own modern views and opinions into their readings of Scripture. It is good (especially for Wayne) to base life around real, current circumstances. It is not right, however, when interpreting Biblical texts, to ignore the ancient surroundings from which the texts came. Too often, theologians who 'live in the now' misinterpret ancient writings. If we are going to determine how Jews and Christians relate and unearth the genesis of Anti-Judaism, we need to live in the then. The authors of Jesus, Judaism and Christian Anti-Judaism send a powerful message to their colleagues and students that, when attempting exegesis, they should NOT live in the now.
One of the oldest and most unsettled theological debates is the existence of evil and sin
One of the oldest and most unsettled theological debates is the existence of evil and sin. Throughout the monotheistic centuries, religionists have delved deeply into this convoluted problem. How can evil exist in a world that is wholly informed by God, the ultimate Good? What could ever lure man, bestowed with divine qualities, to sin to the incredible extent human history has witnessed? Through the insightful poetic journey into the Christian afterlife and the allegorical meaning it encompasses, Dante, in his Divine Comedy, tackles and resolves with a forceful conclusion this problem of sin. He utilizes the threefold structural division of Mount Purgatory, and its allegorical symbols described therein to reveal his insightful conception of love and freewill, as he exposes the roots of not only good deeds, but sin as well. Through his carefully organized arrangement of the afterlife, Dante brings to light the significance of the halfway point of cantos XVII and XVIII of Purgatory. By placing Virgil's discourse on love and freewill at the midpoint of his own ascent up Mount Purgatory, Dante exposes the concept of freewill in the universe, as he is necessarily positioned at the centre between the Inferno and Paradise. Immediately, Dante opens his Divine Comedy with carefully chosen words to indicate something special regarding his future journey. "Midway this way of life we're
What do you understand by the 'Synoptic Problem?'
What do you understand by the 'Synoptic Problem?' The similarities are extremely close between the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke not just in the order of the material that is presented but also in the exact wording of the texts that it seems rather insufficient to explain these similarities on the basis of common the oral tradition alone. Instead, some type of literary dependence must be assumed i.e. the theory of someone coping from someone else as some of the evangelists appeared to make use of one or more of the previous Gospels as sources for their own personal compositions. The situation is quite complicated because some common material is in all three of the 'Synoptic' Gospels but other material is in only two out of three. Moreover, the common material is not always presented in the same order in the various Gospels. So the question remains, who copied from whom? Well this question is commonly referred to as the 'synoptic problem' which as O'Donnell points out is an 'investigation into the existence and nature of the literary interrelationship among the first three "synoptic" gospels.'1 The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the 'synoptic' gospels, in contrast with the Gospel of John, because they can be readily arranged in a three-column harmony structure called a "synopsis." Unlike the Gospel of John, the Synoptic Gospels share a great number of